LoveLorn in Lavender
by tansy1354
Summary: Estel & Legolas have failed to return to Rivendell, after escorting Arwen to Lorien. A patrol sent out to find them returns with riderless horses and a note attached to a saddle. Addressed to Lord Elrond and the twins, does it contain new information.


**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the two maidens Finduilas and Lessien and Captain Sorel, everyone and everything else belongs to Master Tolkien.**

**Summary: **Estel & Legolas have failed to return to Rivendell, after escorting Arwen to Lorien. A patrol sent out to find them returns with riderless horses and a note attached to a saddle. Addressed to Lord Elrond and the twins, does it contain new information.

**Part 1. Prologue**

In a hidden flet on the outskirts of Lorien an unusual conversation could be heard taking place if you were close enough to their hiding spot, between one female elf, one human and one male elf.

"Are you sure that they will fall for it?" said the male elf.

"Of course they will, for two reasons, one being they would hate to have anything happen to us and the other reason being they have big enough egos to be flattered at the lengths the two maidens will go to in order to make them theirs." The human replied.

"Besides with my help it can't fail." The female elf replied with a serene smile that belied her mischievous nature.

"I have arranged to borrow two horses from the stable here for the maidens to ride back on so they can carry out their raid. Are the wedding clothes ready yet?" The male elf looked at her bemused.

"Yes the groom's clothes are as requested; the brides are both in deep purple with silver ribbons. However the brides will have to have a final fitting, especially for the cloaks to make sure that they can't be identified through the hoods. They will also need gloves and shoes to match. All the other things will be ready tomorrow; we just need to organise the notes. Have our mysterious maidens got names yet?" The female elf continued.

"Yes, Finduilas and Lessien Alfirin." The human replied.

"Ice and Fire Flower, appropriate names indeed, I think we can officially say that all is now ready to begin the twin's dilemma. We ride out tomorrow." The female elf looked at her companions with an evil grin; her male companions returned it with evil grins of their own, before all three broke down laughing.

* * *

**Part 2. The Twin's Dilemma**

Six weeks later

It was late morning when, Lord Elrond and his sons were there to greet the patrol, praying to the Valar that this would be the one which brought news of Estel and Legolas. Indeed as soon as it rode in with two riderless horses in tow, they knew their worst fears had been confirmed.

The leader of the patrol, Sorel was a long time friend of Estel's and by default Legolas also. He rode forward and handed over a piece of folded parchment addressed to Lord Elrond as he reported, "_Hir_ Elrond, their horses were found on the edge of Rivendell's forest. The only thing missing from the saddlebags are Estel's herbs. As you can see their weapons are still on the horses. We found this parchment attached to a bundle of clothing wrapped in Estel's travelling cloak." He pointed at Estel's horse to indicate the bundle still tied to the pommel of the saddle. There was a similar bundle on the horse belonging to Legolas.

"There are also parcels addressed to Lords Elladan and Elrohir." Sorel bowed as he concluded his report.

Elrond was glad that Arwen was visiting her grandparents in Lorien and did not know of this situation as he acknowledged the bow before taking the parchment. "Thank you, Sorel. Elladan, you and Elrohir remove all of their things from the horses and bring everything to my study.

Once in the privacy of his study, Rivendell's Lord opened the note and read it frowning as he did so. Once his sons had arrived he read it again out loud:

"**_Greetings Lords Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir_**

**_By now you will have noticed you are missing two that you love, to prove that we hold them we have returned everything of theirs including their clothes. This seems fair, since we are also missing two that we love, but fear not they are currently in fair health and keeping us company. However that will change if our demand is not met within the next eight hours._**

**_It is quite simple really; your sons Elladan and Elrohir must become bonded to us by the end of that time. We will be then welcomed into your home and accorded all festivities and rights that would be due to us as the wives of sons of Elrond._**

**_If you agree to this then Elladan and Elrohir are to dress in the wedding clothes we have provided and walk around Rivendell praising our beauty and declaring their love for us and their intention to wed us at dusk. At which time they will make their way to the Summerhouse and wait with Lord Elrond, to become our husbands. We will know if this is not done convincingly and if it is not then at dusk we will bond with those we hold instead and they will bear the consequences which will not be pleasant for them. Do not fret once we are bonded we will tell you where to find them although they may be a little cold by then._**

**_We look forward to your company soo, dear Elladan and Elrohir and know that we have loved you both from afar for many years and we could not bear to be apart from you any longer._**

**_Love Finduilas and Lessien Alfirin_**

Lord Elrond turned to his sons, "Do either of you know who these maidens are?" he asked rather sharply.

"No _Adar, _we don't know any maidens by that name, I am sure if they lived in Rivendell or Lorien we would know who they were. Although as you know we have travelled a good deal with the Rangers, so it is possible we met them during one of those times." Elladan replied quickly.

"It seems our fame as young and handsome elves has spread further than we thought, Brother." Elrohir grinned despite himself.

"Elrohir, this is no time for fooling around, your brother and Legolas could well be in danger with these desperate young women if their letter is anything to go by." Elrond glared at the younger twin.

"I will not force you to do as the letter says; it must be your choice. To be bonded in such a manner would not be an easy situation to live with. I will leave you for a little while to discuss your decision." With that Elrond left the study hoping he was doing the right thing.

It was Elrohir who tore his package open first to see what kind of taste his possible future bride had and his worst fear was quickly confirmed. He groaned as he held up a longer than usual length tunic for his brother to see. It was made of sheer shimmering lavender material that was covered in silver flowers fashioned from thin pieces of ribbon. The sleeves were plain but pulled in a little at the wrist with thicker silver ribbon tied in a bow.

Thinking it couldn't get worse he pulled out the matching leggings to discover it could, for they were the opposite colour scheme to the tunic, the main being sheer silver and the ribbon flowers in lavender. There were purple ribbons lacing up the front to show off his manliness to the best advantage and it was then he noticed that the front of the tunic only did up as far as the waist, making sure to show off the purple ribbons below. There was a small card inside which read, 'Made by my own hand, with all my love, Finduilas Alfirin.'

"I hate to think what mine looks like after seeing yours," Elladan said fearfully as he looked at his own parcel.

"Better get it over and done with Elladan, because if we are to do this we will have to get dressed soon to fulfil the rest of the instructions. By the way my bride is to be Finduilas apparently which leaves you with Lessien." Elrohir urged resignedly.

So Elladan opened his package to find that his outfit was the reverse of his brothers but still the same design and fabric. "I suppose we know what these maiden's favourite colours are at least, so what do you think brother, can we put up with this for the sake of getting our younger brother and our best friend back. Or do we allow these two maidens to carry out their threat and let Estel and Legolas marry them. I mean I suppose we should be flattered that they would go to these lengths to get us."

"I agree with you dear brother, but we must also remember if Legolas is taken against his will it could cause him to fade, while Estel and Arwen have been getting close of late and it would break Arwen's heart if she lost Estel. But we are both strong and should be able to handle our wives once we are wed; besides perhaps it is time we settled down and gave father some grandchildren and knowing how virile our family is I wouldn't be surprised if we produce new sets of twins to terrorise Rivendell. Just think how much fun it would be to teach a new generation about playing pranks." Elrohir finished more enthusiastically.

"Elrohir, only you could think like that, but after all we should remember that we are doing this for Estel and Legolas and we will have them in our debt, thus affording excellent opportunities to remind them in all sorts of ways. All right we better go bathe and get dressed so we can get started telling everyone. You know brother, I am glad Arwen is not here to see this, she would be most upset by this situation and I am sure she would be mortified by the wedding clothes we have been provided." Elladan placed his hand on the younger twin's shoulder as he spoke.

"Agreed Elladan, we had also better come up with some convincing things to say about our prospective brides while we are bathing." With that the two picked up the clothes and packaging and made their way out of the study and to their bathing room.

* * *

**Part 3. A Double Wedding in Rivendell!**

Just before dawn and a few hours before the riderless horses would be found, three hooded figures were making their way through the trees to where a fourth hooded figure was waiting near a secret entrance into Rivendell. Without a word all made their way towards the Summer House to prepare for the evening festivities.

Once there, they all began to unpack the bags they had brought with them. The Chief Counsellor Lord Erestor, himself a victim of far too many of Elrohir and Elladan's pranks, and the one to greet them at the entrance, finally spoke. "I trust your journey was pleasant, Ladies. As promised there is water here and a mirror to help you get dressed by. Here is the bag of food which should keep you going until dusk. I will be back two hours before dusk to put up the decorations and report on how convincing the twins were.

Once again, I thank you for the invitation to join you in this endeavour and I look forward with eager anticipation to this evening's entertainment." With that the hooded figures dipped their heads in acknowledgement and there were barely repressed laughs from all four.

Time had now passed and people were gathering for the midday meal in the dining hall, when Elladan and Elrohir walked in dressed in their wedding clothes. Unfortunately for the twins, the clothes allowed very little to be worn under them only enough for modesty's sake.

Silence came over the hall as the twins came forward appearing to be quite happy in the strange garments, Lord Elrond just stared as he had not seen what was in the packages. A couple of maidens fainted, but many maidens finally had confirmation that the twins boast of their athletic prowess was confirmed by the outfits proclaiming it for all to see.

The reactions of the males in the hall varied widely from total shock, to believing that the twins had finally taken leave of their senses with the stress over their two missing comrades. Some couldn't help grimacing at the torture their brethren were going through and in fact two of them had jumped up and headed towards the twins at great speed, seemingly intent on getting their friends out of the hall and safely to the healing wing.

Elrond noticing Aldred and Jhereg making quick progress across the room sighed sadly as he stood up and went towards his sons and led them to their places at his table, at the same time waving the twin's friends back to their own table.

Once there, Elrohir spoke up clearly so that all could hear, "_Ada,_ we have exciting news to share with everyone in Rivendell. May we have permission to speak before we partake of our meal?"

"I take it you have reached a decision and wish to tell all your friends, I grant my permission and wish you both much happiness."

Elrond replied with as much joy as he could.

"Thank you, Ada. Dear friends, this morning a letter came for us from two maidens who have come to mean a great deal to us. The two are sisters by the names of Finduilas and Lessien Alfirin." Elrohir began before his brother took over.

"In their letter, they explained that having heard of our missing loved ones they set out to find them for us and were successful, all will be arriving today just before dusk. We seem to have found that which we never thought possible, two women that understand us perfectly and do not wish to change us all wrapped up in the most caring and beautiful of packages. Their beauty is the rare kind that shines from within and bathes all who come in contact with them." Elladan continued before Elrohir took over once again.

"Yes, we feel as if we have known them all our lives, when in reality it has been the merest of moments. But during that time our hearts have been captured by their sense of humour and sense of adventure which matches our own so well. Indeed they are both creative we have also now realised, for we were informed by the letter that they designed and sewed our remarkable outfits themselves as a gift of their love for us."

Elladan sighed as though in anticipation before making the announcement which as older brother was his duty, "Indeed, we intend to make them ours this night at dusk. So hopefully we will be holding more than one celebration feast this night.

* * *

**Part 4. A Night of Surprises**

For the rest of the afternoon the spy watched as the twins strolled around Rivendell accepting good wishes and appearing to be genuinely nervous with anticipation of the big event that was to take place at dusk. The spy tried to stifle his mirth at the sight the twins made in those clothes and he silently admired those who had thought this up and was even moved to remind him self to tell them later when he gave his report.

Meanwhile in the summer house the brides were also getting nervous as the time to dress approached. They had decided that once Lord Erestor returned with his report they would disappear into the trees and return once Erestor had completed decorating and setting up the table for the ceremony.

As soon as he left, the brides re-entered the summer house and begun getting dressed with the help of the third member of this little troupe. Once that was done the third member set another note upon the table, after which all three made their way to the small clearing a little way away where they prepared the last act of their little drama. When the brides had taken their positions, the third member of the trio left to hide and watch the show.

It was now dusk and right on time the twins and Lord Elrond made their way to keep the promised rendezvous. Having arrived at the summer house, Lord Elrond found a second note this time addressed to the twins only.

**_Dear Elladan and Elrohir _**

**_You must find your prize before you can claim it._**

**_Finduilas and Lessien._**

Elladan looked over to his father a little annoyed, "It would seem that we must now search for our supposed prize. Do you wish to join us on our search, Ada?"

Lord Elrond nodded; he too was growing impatient to retrieve Estel and Legolas. It didn't take them long to find evidence of the way the maidens had gone. So it was that they reached a small clearing wherein were two prone purple covered bodies lying back to back. The purple turned out to be wedding dresses with small silver bows all over the skirts and over the top were lavender coloured cloaks made of thick lace with a deep hood to match.

"Finduilas and Lessien we presume, how nice to finally meet you." Elrohir declared as he and Elladan ran forward to aid the pair, but once they got to the maiden it was revealed that their hands were bound together and to each other behind their backs and both sets of feet were bound together in one as well.

They couldn't see the faces, for they were covered by the thick lacy hood, but there seemed to be small grunts coming from within.

Attached to the cloak of each body was a letter, one letter to the twins and the second to Lord Elrond.

While Elrohir unbound the maidens, Elladan took the letter addressed to him and Elrohir and Lord Elrond retrieved the second one addressed to him self.

He read it aloud so that Elrohir could hear as well,

"**_Our Dear Elladan and Elrohir_**

**_We regret our father found out about our plans and made us write this and return your loved ones. Unfortunately we must also inform you that neither of au are of age and therefore cannot marry you._**

**_Do not fear, although we are being suitably punished, we will continue to hold onto our love for you until we become of age and can finally claim you for real._**

**_Sorry about Estel and Legolas, we didn't have any other clothes to dress them in._**

_**Love Finduilas and Lessien**."_

It was then that Elladan reached down and pulled the hood down of the maiden closest to him and found a very flushed and hazy looking Estel staring at him. He swallowed nervously, "Oh Estel, I am so sorry that you got caught up in this, are you alright, did they hurt you?"

"No Elladan, unless you call being dressed up in all sorts of clothes like a doll and having some-one singing the praises of the two of you for over twenty-four hours being hurt. But no I am not alright, all I want to do is take a bath, get dressed in my own clothes and retire to my room with some food and peace and quiet." The ranger replied tersely.

On the other side Elrohir had freed Legolas who was nodding at what Estel was saying and also seemed to be in a bad mood.

He continued, "You two may be my best friends, but I swear I will never go through something like that again, even if it means dire consequences for you."

Lord Elrond stepped forward and hugged Estel and Legolas before opening the letter that was attached to Legolas and read it aloud

"**_Lords Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir_**

**_I must inform you that there will be no alliance at this point in time between our families as my daughters are not quite of age, although from what I have heard about your sons a future alliance would certainly be viewed favourably. I believe my daughters would be well suited to your twin sons._**

**_I beg you to forgive them for detaining your loved ones, but rest assured they have not been harmed._**

**_Lord Elrond, I ask for your understanding as one father to another, for I have no wife and often times find it hard to handle my daughters' high spirits._**

**_Again my apologies _**

_**Baran Alfirin**"_

Before the four colourfully dressed males could leave, Lord Elrond continued, "I am afraid my sons and nearly son that you will need to give some explanation of what has happened to the rest of the elves of Rivendell, so you will remain in those clothes and attend the feast that was already planned to take place in an hour.

As for you my darling daughter you may show yourself now and I concede that you are the cleverest of my children when it comes to pranks. Now I believe I owe you a new horse for getting your twin brothers to dress in those clothes and you may name your own prize for getting Estel and Legolas to willingly dress up and be tied up in wedding dresses. I must say your choice of colour and design is impressive." He started to laugh as he saw the looks on those in the wedding party especially that of Estel and Legolas as Arwen Undomiel descended from a tree nearby with a huge grin on her face before taking off down the path that led to the Last Homely House with three furious elves and one equally furious human after her.

They were followed by one highly amused father.

The End


End file.
